Friday, December 07, 2007

Friday 12/07 A.M. Quickie:Tebow, Redskins, Schiano, NFL Picks, More

Will Tebow win the Heisman? Breaking the "Class Ceiling" – the historical (and ridiculous) Heisman voter-bias against freshman and sophomores – is the biggest reason everyone should be rooting for him to win the award (presuming you think his on-field qualifications are worthy, too, which they undeniably are).

Herschel Walker. Marshall Faulk. Larry Fitzgerald. Adrian Peterson. Darren McFadden. All were the best players in the country as freshman and sophomores, but were denied the Heisman, presumably because of their age. (Who knows how many others never even got as far as the Top 2 or 3 because they were instantly discounted because of their class year?)

It should be the end of a stodgy era: Thank goodness. Now, with that taboo eliminated, we can get down to the business of actually giving the Heisman to the best PLAYER in college football. Not the "best junior or senior" in college football.

I'm sure Herschel Walker approves.

Redskins (without Campbell) beat Bears (without Grossman): The defending NFC champs will not make the playoffs – continuing the trend for the Super Bowl runner-up to bottom-out the next season. The Redskins keep slight playoff hopes alive, but this was a bigger win because they buried their teammate Sean Taylor just days ago.

Michigan Coaching Watch: Is Greg Schiano interested in leaving his beloved Rutgers for the Michigan job? Now THAT would be a coup for Michigan. Tracking...

UPDATE: I'm not sure I made a big enough deal out of this Schiano-Michigan story. He interviewed there. (I'm not sure why Michigan AD "Buffoonish Bill" Martin -- the punchline of this entire process -- didn't make an offer on the spot.) He wouldn't interview if he didn't have interest. And if he's interested, Michigan needs to grab him NOW. This would be a huge score for Michigan -- it might even make me lose the "Buffoonish" tag for AD Martin.

UPDATE 2: Apparently, Schiano is out of the running. Buffoonish Bill screw up again.

MLB "PED Stove": Jose Guillen (and Jay Gibbons) suspended for first 15 games of next season's debut with the Royals for being involved with HGH. That was quite the offseason pickup for KC.

Picks (home team in ALLCAPS):BILLS over DolphinsBENGALS over RamsCowboys over LIONSPACKERS over RaidersChargers over TITANSEAGLES over GiantsJAGS over PanthersBucs over TEXANSVikings over 49ERSSEAHAWKS over CardsBRONCOS over ChiefsPATS over SteelersBrowns over JETSColts over RAVENSSaints over FALCONS

Sports Media: Pats-Ravens ended up being the highest-rated show in cable TV history. Not bad. (Yeah, I'm a day late on this.)

Meanwhile, this idea to have students provide content to ESPNU is genius: Free, pre-qualified content for a channel that needs the cheap inventory, all in exchange for a cost-free byline. That's not criticism; meanwhile, the college kids get some exposure in the ESPN universe.

NFL vs. Retirees: Mike Ditka a hypocrite? Ditka has been an outspoken critic of the league and supporter of NFL retirees. So why, then, has his charity dedicated to the cause only given out $57,000 on $1.3 million in collections? Just asking.

More CFB Coaching Carousel: No, Jim Grobe doesn't want to coach at Arkansas. Again: Arkansas is the new Michigan.

CBB: Lute Olson to extend his leave of absence to the entire season. This now becomes "newsy" enough that aren't you curious WHY? Yes, it's "personal family matters," but it feels like Olson gets a level of deference from mainstream media that another coach in another sport wouldn't get.

NBA Stud: Allen Iverson... for the second straight day! 35 points and 12 assists in a huge Nuggets win in Dallas on national TV. For those keeping count, that's 86 points for Iverson in two games/days.

Have a great weekend, everyone. Thanks for joining in the experiment of the spinoff blog for DS.com Commenting "regulars." They're having a good time over there; we're still having a good time over here.

13 comments:

More anti-Pittsburgh bias from Shanoff. It would be hard to find anybody outside of Norman, OK, or Post-Gazette writers with a vote that believed Jason White deserved the Heisman over sophomore Larry Fitzgerald.

My Royals just can't catch a break. I may be late but I haven't seen you make any references to the verbal beatdown James Brown gave certain members of the media on the Sean Taylor situation. Also, quit the UF d1ckriding....BTW, 1st chumps

Where to start with the Bears? The offensive line is awful. How many false start penalties? No running game. The coaching sucks too: 1st and goal at the 1yd line and they lose 3yds on a running play. They call a play with the inside guard pulling. What? The DT are exploding forward in a goal line D, so of course the DT blows up the play through the vacant gap. Also, 4th and 1 with a minutes to go down 11. You need a FG anyway--kick here! Instead QB sneak the runs down 21 seconds. 2 plays later they have to take the FG anyway. Lovie sucks. Ron Turner REALLY sucks. Bears O-line is worst.ever.

As you mentioned yesterday, the Heisman will always be a farce until they reclassify it as the best offensive player in the country. "Opening" the award to underclassmen does VERY little for its' credibility in my eyes as long as it is only focused on running backs and quarterbacks.

What exactly is the difference supposed to be between the Maxwell (touted as the award given to the best player in college football) and the Heisman?

Chicago misery and non-sense continued White Sox edition: (from Chris De Luca of Sun-Times): "Reacting Wednesday to the blockbuster deal that sent power-hitting third baseman Miguel Cabrera and former All-Star left-hander Dontrelle Willis from the Florida Marlins to the Detroit Tigers — wrecking the Sox’ latest offseason plans — Williams said: ‘‘All this has done is put the Tigers in a better position to contend with us.''"

I'm not impressed, but the guy has had pretty good success at Navy. I just get the feeling that GT is in a position (like everyone else in the ACC) to step up and take a stranglehold of the league. I don't see PJ as that kind of guy. Uninspiring hire, but who knows.

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DanShanoff.com is a sports-blog spin-off of my long-time ESPN.com column, "The Daily Quickie." Anchored by an early-morning post of must-know topics, the blog is updated frequently throughout the day with new posts and user comments.